‘Even if computers become self-aware, they will never have anything like human souls.’ Discuss.

The first 200 words of this essay...

'Even if computers become self-aware, they will never have anything like human souls.' Discuss.

In order to discuss this topic, I must obtain definitions for the words "computer", "self-aware", and "soul". This is so that I can build my arguments upon a stable base. These definitions have been gathered from 'The Oxford Paperback Dictionary & Thesaurus'.

* Computer - electronic device for storing and processing data, making calculations, or controlling machinery.

* Self - automatic

* Aware - conscious, having knowledge

* Therefore Self-Aware - automatically conscious

* Soul - spiritual or immaterial part of a person.

From this definition of soul, it is obvious that computers have to become a person to have a soul, and this is impossible as (by definition) a person is a human being, and cannot be anything else. However, maybe it is possible for a computer to acquire something very similar to a soul. For example, a computer may be able to have feelings, emotions, consciousness, opinions and other characteristics of human's with souls. These abilities in a computer are known as A.I. (artificial intelligence).

This seems impossible with the computers of this day